Kevin Yager of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven Lab

Like all of us, atoms and molecules sometimes need a bit of encouragement to reach their full potential. With guidance and innovative positive reinforcement techniques, scientists at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at Brookhaven Lab are encouraging individual molecules to achieve together what they could not achieve on their own and assemble themselves in ways they ordinarily would not.

The shapes and patterns these molecules form—thanks to CFN scientists' coaxing in this fundamental and complex research—could lead to advanced materials for future water filtration systems, anti-glare lenses, catalysts to make chemical reactions far more efficient, and more.

Join Kevin Yager of the CFN, a U.S. Department of Energy User Facility, for the 513th Brookhaven Lecture, titled "Manipulating Nanostructures With Light," in Berkner Hall at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30. All are invited to attend this free talk, which is open to the public. Refreshments will be offered before and after the lecture. Visitors to the Lab 16 and older must carry a photo ID while on site. Add to calendar

Yager will begin his Brookhaven Lecture with a brief introduction to the nanoscale—the tiny world within our own where elements are so small they are measured in billionths of a meter. Yager will then discuss the light-based techniques and laser tools he has developed for arranging molecules into ordered patterns and specific shapes to fabricate more perfect, complex nanostructures.

To join Yager for dinner at a restaurant off site after the talk, contact Joann Tesoriero (Ext. 7791).

About the Speaker

Yager is a materials scientist at Brookhaven Lab, where he is principal investigator on research projects to control nanomaterials and develop new measurement methods. Several of his projects are funded through Brookhaven's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program that provides support for highly innovative and exploratory research. Yager earned a bachelor's degree in 2001 and Ph.D. in 2006, both in chemistry at McGill University in Canada. While working toward his Ph.D., he collaborated with scientists at McGill and the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre. Yager was a guest researcher for the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology's Polymers Division from 2006 to 2009 before he arrived at Brookhaven Lab in 2010.

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Brookhaven National Laboratory is a multipurpose research
institution funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Located on
Long Island, NY, Brookhaven operates large-scale facilities for
studies in physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, applied
science, and advanced technology. The Laboratory's almost 3,000
scientists, engineers, and support staff are joined each year by
more than 5,000 visiting researchers from around the world.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical,
biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security.
Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry
and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven
Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State
University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory
facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.